The Royal Nanny

The Royal Nanny.

It's one of the better movies this year.

Different storyline, mystery, comedy, romance. Very cute. Thoroughly enjoyed it!

Unrealistic, of course, because an English prince would never be in a romance with an orphan MI7 agent, lol. We viewers don't mind, though.

It was interesting and held my interest throughout. Super cute use of the "brolly".

Gave it a 7.

Good acting. I liked "Scary" Poppins, and everyone was of course English, so the accents were real. Though I know someone here will say they turned it off because of it!

It was filmed in Brussels, Belgium, so other than drone views of the London skyline and Tower Bridge, the street scenes and castle were in Belgium.

The Royal Nanny is an easy to watch Christmas movie from the 2022 holiday batch. The acting is solid and the storyline has a different twist, departing from the usual commoner-among-royalty theme, mixing in a bit of British secret service with some who-done-it (in lieu of the standard "misunderstanding" trope) as well as some Mary Poppins and a lot of British Royal mystique. It doesn't follow the usual Royal cookie-cutter formula, making for a unique story that is complicated only by the G rating. It would be interesting to see the caper fully developed outside of Hallmark. The Royal Nanny is definitely worthy of 90 minutes of attention.

I will keep my review short and sweet, I enjoyed this Christmas movie probably the most I've enjoyed any other over the last 10 years!! Every once in a while Hallmark throws in an unsuspecting gem. I had no expectations for this movie as I do any other because in my humble opinion, Hallmark has become so drab and formulaic but to my surprise, The Royal Nanny proved to be fun, charming, just a little suspenseful and downright likable! I found I wasn't rolling my eyes, yawning or talking to myself out loud saying "oh please, give me a break" To all involved in this adorable movie I say, well done and thank you!

'The Royal Nanny' (2022)

Opening thoughts: Christmas films can go either way, which has been my experience watching overtime the festive output of Lifetime and Hallmark. They can either be well-meaning, charming, warm-hearted and don't feel too heavy. Or they can be too over-sentimental, cheesy, contrived and bland. There have been many films of theirs that have fallen in both camps and in the camp where there is a bit of both. And ''The Royal Nanny' did have the sort of premise where the execution could have gone either way.

Am generally not a fan of the royalty-themed Hallmark films. There have definitely been some pleasant surprises, but they tend to be very more of the same, with cliches galore done badly and very cheesy, a lot with bad acting and lacking in intedeating or/and likeable characters. 'The Royal Nanny' is one of the pleasant surprises, and as far as the royalty-themed Hallmark films go (especially for the ones ser at Christmas) it is for me easily one of the best. With it feeling fresh and that it was a lot less formulaic than usual.

Bad things: 'The Royal Nanny' isn't perfect. It did feel too short and also a bit over-crowded, which made the film feel rushed. Particularly in the final act.

Good things: Everything else is fine. The two leads carry 'The Royal Nanny' with down to earth charm and wit, looking as if they were having fun while not over-compensating. Their chemistry is good natured and sweet, and it looked natural. The supporting cast are fine, with a nice dignified turn from Greta Scacchi. The characters are familiar in type but they have a lot of fresh personality and are not annoying.

Furthermore, the film is attractive and slick looking, the locations are beautiful to look at. The music fits well and didn't sound over-bearing or intrusive. The script is witty and doesn't ramble or come over as awkward and cheesy, the latter extreme has been the case with a lot of Hallmark's royal themed films. The story felt fresh and is a lot less formulaic than usual, while also going at a pace that has liveliness in some places and gentility in others. It is very cosy and feel good, with a lot of heart and charm, while not being over serious or too spoof-like.

Closing thoughts: Concluding, very well done.

8/10.

Hallmark nailed it with this unique, witty, and heartwarming movie. A+ acting from all involved, and the accents from the non-English actors were actually quite well done! The mystery component was a huge plus and kept me guessing until the end of the movie. The kids being pranksters as opposed to brats was also a pleasant surprise, as these "royal" movies often feature spoiled children. They were both adorable and fun to watch.

It's always refreshing when Hallmark does something different like this, and this movie will be memorable for sure. I would happily watch it again. Please keep it up, Hallmark!